Pneumatic cash transfer systems and canisters for use therein

ABSTRACT

A pneumatic cash transfer system for use in banks and building societies to link a cashier station (1) to a remote teller assist unit (3) and a cash deposit box (4) in a separate secure area (5) comprises an air tube (6) extending between a tube terminal (7) at the cashier station and a tube terminal (8) in the secure area (5), and a cash carrying canister (10) movable pneumatically in the tube (6) between the two terminals (7, 8). The canister (10) is open at its side to permit insertion and removal of bank notes, and comprises a bank note holder (22) formed by a pair of spring-biassed clamping plates (23, 24) for holding bank notes firmly in the canister during travel in the tube (6). At the terminal (8) in the secure area (5) the holder (22) can be opened automatically to release notes to be deposited into the deposit box (4), and on closure of the holder it is ready to receive notes which are fed positively into the holder from the teller assist unit (3) for transmission to the cashier.

Security for both cash and staff has always been of major concern tobanks, building societies, and other cash handling businesses (e.g. postoffices) in which cash is dispensed and received by cashiers. Pastattempts to reduce the level of risk inherent in such cash handlingoperations have included, inter alia, the introduction of securityscreens or grilles and teller assist units at counter positions, buteven these have proved to be of only limited deterrent to the determinedand ruthless criminal.

Now, with the increasing level of competition currently taking placewithin the financial services industry, the marketing of such servicesis becoming much more customer oriented. In particular, there is anaccelerating trend towards "open plan" branches, personal counsellingand dealing across a desk in place of the traditional counter serivce,and a move towards giving over as much space as possible to thecustomer. These trends increase the security problem even further.

Cashiers operating at a desk station generally have a teller assistunit, which is a unit containing a stock of cash in a locked housing andproviding the facility for the withdrawal of cash in required amounts inresponse to a request entered by the cashier. Such units may also beknown as automatic teller safes or by some other name, but hereinafterthey will be referred to as teller assist units, or TAU's for short.TAU's are similar in operation to the automatic cash dispensers whichmany banks and building societies provide for out-of-hours withdrawals,but as stand-alone units located at desk or other cashier points, theyhave disadvantages in that they remain vulnearable to particularlydetermined criminals, and their stocks of cash cannot be recirculatedduring business hours.

With the aim of overcoming these disadvantages it has been proposed toremove the TAU's from the cashier area to a remote and separate securearea, which may be time-locked, and to link each cashier station to itsTAU by means of a pneumatic cash transfer system comprising an air tubein which a canister is moved back and forth in response to air pressuredifferentials created between the opposite ends of the tube to carrycash from the TAU to the cashier station and, if desired, from thecashier station to a deposit box also located in the secure area.

Air tube conveyor systems have been known for many years as a means oftransporting a wide range of items (documents, valuables, samples, spareparts etc.) between different locations within a building, or evenbetween adjoining buildings, and with suitable electronic controls it isconsidered that such a system is ideal for the above purpose. Air tubeconveyor systems are capable of operating over any distance and invirtually any building, whether it is new or existing, and routes can beconcealed above ceilings or below floors depending on the constructionalconstraints of the building concerned.

The above proposal using a pneumatic cash transfer system should serveto produce a much safer environment in banks, building societies, etc.,where cashier/customer transactions take place. The system is such thatno cash need be held at the cashier station (with the possible exceptionof a small float of loose coins), yet precise amounts of cash can becalled up quickly as required from a secure area, and deposits can besent back. Thus, at any time the only cash at risk will be the coinfloat and that which is being handled in the course of the currenttransaction. Furthermore, depending on the user's normal operatingprocedures, a full stock of cash will be available for immediaterecycling at all times, and if recharging of any TAU becomes necessarythis can be carried out in total security.

The present invention relates to such a pneumatic cash handling systemfor linking a cashier station to a remote TAU in a secure area, and isparticularly concerned with a canister for carrying bank notes in such asystem.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided acanister for carrying bank notes in an air tube conveyor systemcomprising a pair of interconnected end members, a side openingextending substantially the length of the canister between the endmembers to permit bank notes to be fed into the canister, and a banknote holder arranged to receive and retain bank notes fed into thecanister through the side opening, the bank note holder comprising apair of clamping plates which are mounted between the end members andare biased towards each other to a closed position for retaining banknotes inserted between the plates, characterised in that the clampingplates are shaped and mounted so that, in the closed position, theydefine a substantially V-shaped trough in which bank notes are receivedand are retained between the lower longitudinal edge portions of theplates at the root of the V-shaped trough.

Generally such a canister will be designed for use in a system in whichthe bank notes are placed positively into the bank note holder, theclamping plates allowing the notes to be pushed easily between themwhile in the closed position so that the notes are immediately grippedand retained by the holder.

Preferably each of the end members is freely rotatably mounted in an endcap having a peripheral portion arranged to engage the air tube wallduring travel of the canister through the tube, and at least one of theend members is eccentrically weighted so that the interconnected endmembers will together rotate relative to the end caps to a predeterminedposition when the canister is at rest. In this way it can be ensuredthat the bank note holder will always be oriented correctly when thecanister comes to rest, irrespective of any frictional resistancebetween the end caps and the air tube.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided apneumatic cash handling system comprising an air tube, a canister asdefined above freely slidable along the length of the tube between acashier station tube terminal and a TAU tube terminal in a secure arearemote from the cashier station, and means for controlling the airpressure in the tube to drive the canister back and forth between thetwo tube terminals, the TAU tube terminal (and preferably also thecashier station tube terminal) comprising a portion of the air tubehaving a longitudinally extending opening in its wall for providingaccess to the bank note holder of the canister when the canister isreceived in the tube terminal, means for stopping the canister in thetube terminal in a predetermined position relative to the opening, arotatable sleeve closely surrounding the tube portion of the terminaland having a longitudinally extending opening substantiallycorresponding to the tube opening, and means for rotating the sleeve tomove it between an open position in which its opening registers with thetube opening and a closed position in which the tube opening is shut bythe sleeve.

The system will be provided with a suitable automatic control systemlinked to the TAU and operated from the cashier station, e.g. via akeyboard. In operation, if a customer wishes to make a cash withdrawal,the cashier keys the nature of the transaction and the amount required(preferably after first keying a security access code) and the systemthen operates automatically to ensure that the canister is correctlylocated at the TAU tube terminal (which preferably will be arranged tobe the canister's home station), to open the terminal, to receive therequired number and denomination of bank notes from the TAU into theholder, to close the terminal, and to send the canister to the cashierstation tube terminal. Preferably the system also operates automaticallyto open the cashier station tube terminal when the canister arrives, sothat the cashier simply has to lift the notes from the holder. However,the opening of the cashier station tube terminal may be manual ifpreferred.

Generally the system will be required also to handle cash deposits aswell as withdrawals, and for this purpose the canister preferably has aside opening which permits bank notes to be discharged from the canisterat a position substantially diametrically opposite that at which thenotes are fed in, and the bank note holder is movable to a releaseposition to allow bank notes to fall from the holder through thediscarge side opening. In addition, the tube portion of the TAU tubeterminal has a second longitudinally extending opening disposed at thebottom of the tube portion diametrically opposite the first openingthereof, and the sleeve also has a second longitudinally extendingopening diametrically opposite the first sleeve opening andsubstantially corresponding to the second opening of the tube portion sothat each sleeve opening registers with the corresponding opening of thetube portion when the sleeve is moved to the open position and bothopenings of the tube portion are shut when the sleeve is moved to theclosed position, the TAU tube terminal also comprising means for causingthe bank note holder of the canister to release bank notes for dischargethrough the registering second openings of the tube portion and thesleeve when the sleeve is in the open position and the notes are to bedeposited in the secure area.

To assist further understanding of the invention, preferred examples ofthe canister and pneumatic cash handling system in accordance with theinvention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdiagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the general layout of one example of a system inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one example of a canister in accordancewith the invention for use in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an axial section through one end of the canister;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section through the canister in a plane perpendicularto its longitudinal axis and approximately mid-way between its ends;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section through one example of a TAU tube terminal foruse in the system of FIG. 1, taken on the line V--V in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the tube terminal of FIG. 5.

The pneumatic cash transfer system illustrated in FIG. 1 links a singlecashier station 1, for example a desk station, in an opening transactionarea 2 of a bank or building society to a teller-assist unit (TAU) 3 anda cash deposit box 4 located in a secure, time-locked area 5 remote andseparate from the transaction area 2. The system comprises an air tube 6extending between a tube terminal 7 at the cashier station 1 and a tubeterminal 8 in the secure area 5, the terminal 8 being located above thecash deposit box 4 and below a bank note feed device 9 from the TAU 3.Slidable within the air tube 6 is a canister 10 for carrying bank notesbetween the two tube terminals 7 and 8, and connected to the air tube atthe TAU tube terminal 8 is a turbine blower 11 capable of selectivelyapplying by means of a diverter 12 either suction of pressurised air tothe air tube in order to move the canister 10 from the cashier stationtube terminal 7 to the TAU tube terminal 8 or vice versa respectively. Aspeed of about ten meters/second should be possible. The diverter 12 isalso capable of shutting off the blower 11 from the air tube 6 when notrequired. The system is controlled by the cashier at the cashier station1 via a keyboard 13.

The canister 10 illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4 comprises a pair of axiallyspaced circular end plates 14,15 which are rigidly interconnected by apair of connecting rods 16,17 extending parallel to a common axis of theend plates and disposed symmetrically on opposite sides thereof inwardlyof the rims of the end plates. As shown in FIG. 3 in relation to the endplate 15, each end plate 14,15 is rigidly connected to a shaft 18extending axially from its outer face, and a cup-shaped end cap 19 isrotatably mounted on this shaft 18 by means of a bearing (not shown).The rim of the end cap 19 closely surrounds the end plate and is fittedon its outer periphery with a circumferential seal 20 made of a suitablelow friction material to facilitate the movement of the canister throughthe air tube. Mounted on the shaft 18 within the space bounded by theend cap 19 at either or both ends of the canister is an eccentric weight21 so that the centre of gravity of the portion of the canisterrotatably mounted between the end caps is displaced radially from itslongitudinal axis. Thus, irrespective of the angular position of the endcaps 19, gravitational action will always cause the central portion ofthe canister to adopt a predetermined position when the canister is atrest as a result of the central portion being free to rotate relative tothe end caps.

The canister 10 is completely open at the side so that it effectivelyhas a single side opening extending the length of the canister betweenthe end plates 14,15 and circumferentially all the way round thecanister. Furthermore, the canister comprises a bank note holder 22mounted between the end plates 14,15 are comprising a pair of clampingplates 23,24 which are spring-biased relatively towards each other to aclosed, clamping position. The clamping plates 23,24 are shaped andmounted so that, in the clamping position as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4,they define a substantially V-shaped trough with convexly curved loweredge portions 23a,24a biased towards engagement with each other at aposition offset from the axis of the canister in the direction of itseccentric centre of gravity, and with their upper edge portions 23b,24bspaced relatively widely apart to allow bank notes to be fed positivelyinto the holder. The spring bias acting on the clamping plates is suchthat a number of bank notes inserted into the holder can be pushedrelatively easily between the closed lower edge portions 23a,24a, butwill remain held therebetween when released by the insertion mechanism.

In order to facilitate the insertion of only one or two notes at a time,however, it is preferable that the lower edge portions 23a,24a of theclamping plates do not actually meet but are slightly spaced from eachother in the closed position as shown in FIG. 4. In this case eachclamping plate 23,24 is provided with a plurality of flexible fingers25,26 respectively, for example of a plastics material, which extendfrom its lower longitudinal edge portion at intervals along the lengththereof and interdigitate with the fingers of the other clamping plateas shown, the fingers 25,26 being deflectable to allow the banl notes tobe inserted and held between them.

If desired the insertion of bank notes between the clamping plates 23and 24 may be facilitated by coating the facing surfaces of the plateswith a low friction material such as polytetrafluoroethylene, and thegripping action of the plates may be improved by providing the facingsurfaces of at least the lower portions of the plates with a number ofribs (not shown) lying in planes perpendicular to the axis of thecanister and offset from each other.

One of the clamping plates 24 is fixed in position relative to the endplates 14,15, while the other clamping plate 23 is pivotally mounted onthe end plates by pivot pins 27 so that the plate 23 is able to pivotabout an axis 28 which is parallel to the axis of the canister and ispositioned toward the upper edge portion 23b of the clamping plate. Thepivot pins 27 are carried by the clamping plate 23 and are received inbearings fitted in the end plates, the pins 27 projecting into the spacebounded by the end caps 19 where they co-operate with springs 29 so thatthe clamping plate 23 is biased to pivot in a direction to move itslower end portion towards the lower edge portion of the fixed plate 24.As will be appreciated, pushing the upper edge portion 23b of thepivoted clamping plate 23 towards the fixed clamping plate 24 whilepreventing rotation of the end plates 14,15 will cause the lower edgeportion 23a of the pivoted clamping plate to move away from the fixedclamping plate 24 against the action of the biassing springs 29 so thatthe lower end of the holder 22 is thereby opened to release bank notestherefrom. Near its lower edge position 23a, the pivoted clamping plate23 has a further pair of pins 30 projecting into arcuate guide slots 31provided in the end plates 14,15 for guiding the movement of the loweredge portion of the clamping plate 23 during opening and closing of theholder 22. The ends of the slots 31 also serve to limit the open andclosed positions of the holder 22.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6, a TAU tube terminal 8 is shown comprisinga support frame formed by a pair of axially spaced rectangular endplates 32,33 interconnected at the corners by longitudinally extendingbars 34. The air tube 6 of the system extends horizontally through, andis supported by, each end plate 32,33 and the portion 35 of the air tubebetween the end plates is provided with upper and lower longitudinallyextending openings 36,37 respectively which are positioned diametricallyopposite each other. The lower opening 37 is symmetrical about itslongitudinal axis, whereas the upper opening 36 has each end offset inopposite circumferential directions to provide a wider portion 36a onone side at one end, and a corresponding wider portion 36b on the otherside and at the other end.

A cylindrical sleeve 38 closely surrounds the tube portion 35 betweenthe end plates 32,33 and is rotatable about the tube portion by means ofa drive belt 39 driven by an electric motor 40 mounted on one of theframe bars 34. The sleeve 38 is provided with a pair of diametricallyopposite, longitudinally extending openings 41,42 corresponding in shapeand size to the openings 36,37 of the tube portion 35. Thus, the sleeve38 can be rotated to an open position in which its openings 41,42register with the openings 36,37 of the tube portion 35, and can also berotated to a closed position in which the sleeve openings and the tubeopenings are totally out of registry and the tube openings are therebyclosed by the walls of the sleeve between its openings.

A pair of holder opening levers 43,44 are pivotally mounted on the upperframe bars 34 on opposite sides of the sleeved tube portion 35 so that,when the sleeve 38 is in the open position, the levers 43,44 are capableof moving horizontally into the interior of the tube portion 35 throughthe widened portions 36a,36b respectively of its upper opening. Thelevers 43,44 are pivoted into and out of the tube 35 by means ofsolenoid operated actuators 45,46 also mounted on the upper frame bars34. If preferred, the actuators 45,46 may be pneumatically orhydraulically operated.

Advantageously, the turbine blower 11 for driving the canister 10 backand forth between the cashier station tube terminal 7 and the TAU tubeterminal 8 is connected through the diverter 12 to the air tube 6 at aposition adjacent the near end of the TAU tube terminal (relative to thecashier tube terminal) via a non-return valve 47 which permits air to besucked from the air tube but not to be blown into the tube, and is alsoconnected to the air tube at a position adjacent the far end of the TAUtube terminal via a non-return valve 48 which permits air to be blowninto the air tube but not to be sucked therefrom. As illustrated in FIG.6, in this example the air tube 6 is connected beyond the TAU tubeterminal 8 through the valve 48 to a duct 49 which leads back throughthe end plates 32,33 of the terminal to the turbine blower and diverter(not shown), the valve 47 connecting the duct 49 to the air tube 6 infront of the terminal 8. With this arrangement, a canister is moved fromthe TAU tube terminal 8 to the cashier terminal 7 by causing the turbineblower to blow air through the duct 49 to the end of the air tube 6 viathe valve 48, thus propelling the canister towards the cashier station.On the other hand, when the canister is to be returned to the TAU tubeterminal, the turbine blower is caused to suck air from the air tube 6via the valve 47, thus drawing the canister towards the TAU tubeterminal 8. This has the advantage that as the canister passes the valve47 in front of the terminal 8, further evacuation of the tube portion 35within the terminal 8 is prevented and the canister is braked by acushion of air within the tube portion of the tube terminal beforecoming to rest in the tube terminal 8 against an end stop (not shown).

When the canister comes to rest, the motor 40 is operated, possible inresponse to a signal from the end stop, to rotate the sleeve 38 to theopen position. The eccentrically weighted, freely rotatable centralportion of the canister naturally comes to rest with the spaced upperedges 23b,24b of the bank note holder 22 facing upwards to theregistering openings 36,41 of the sleeved tube portion. If the holder 22carries bank notes for deposit, the actuators 45,46 operateautomatically (in response to a programme preselected by the cashier) tocause the holder opening levers 43,44 to pivot so that an arm of eachlever moves into the tube portion 35 through the widened portions36a,36b of the upper opening. The end of each arm moving into the tubeportion 35 carries a roller 50,51 for engaging the outer face of thecorresponding clamping plate 23,24 near its upper edge. The lever 44engages the fixed clamping plate 24 solely to prevent rotation of thecanister about its axis upon engagement of the other clamping plate 23by the lever 43, which is arranged to push the upper edge portion of theclamping plate 23 so that the plate 23 pivots about its pivot axis 28 tomove the lower edge portion 23a of the clamping plate away from thefixed plate to the open position 23c shown in FIG. 4. This allows thebank notes previously held by the holder 22 to fall from the holderthrough the registering bottom openings 37,42 of the tube and sleeveinto the deposit box 4. The holder opening levers 43 and 44 are thenretracted out of the sleeved tube portion 35 to allow the clamping plate23 to return to the closed position of the holder ready to receive thenext cash withdrawal from the TAU.

When a withdrawal is called for by the cashier, the TAU feed device 9inserts the bank notes through the registering upper openings 36,41 andinto the bank note holder 22, the notes being pushed between the lowerend portions 23a,24a and the fingers 25,26 of the clamping plates 23,24.The feed device then releases the thus gripped bank notes, and isretracted from the sleeved tube portion 35. The sleeve 38 is thenrotated to the closed position, and the tubine blower operated to propelthe canister to the cashier station for removal of the bank notes by thecashier.

As mentioned earlier, the system, may be controlled to operatecompletely automatically in response to instructions entered on thekeyboard 13 by the cashier. Furthermore, the control system (the detailsof which form no part of the present invention) can be designed torecord automatically all cash transactions, both withdrawals anddeposits, and to provide for full integration of the data recordingsystem and access codes, etc., with a master computer system.

It will be appreciated that the system, in accordance with the inventionis also particularly suitable for use with an automatic cash dispensingunit instead of a manned cashier station be described, the advantagebeing that the unit itself will not need to be stocked with a reserve ofcash since this will be contained at a remote position in the securearea within the building. Thus, the automatic dispensing unit itselfdoes not need to be made secure and will therefore need less space.

It will also be appreciated that the system and canister in accordancewith the invention can be used to handle other documents connected withfinancial transactions besides bank notes, such as cheques, travellerscheques, debit and credit vouchers, etc. References to bank notesappearing hereinbefore and in the following claims are accordingly to beconstrued as meaning bank notes and other financial transactiondocuments.

We claim:
 1. A canister for carrying bank notes in an air tube conveyorsystem comprising a pair of interconnected end members, a side having anopening to permit bank notes to be fed into the canister and to bedischarged therefrom, said side opening extending substantially thelength of the canister between the end members and completely aroundsaid canister whereby the side of said canister is completely openbetween said end members, and a bank note holder arranged to receive andretain bank notes fed into the canister through the side opening, thebank note holder comprising a pair of clamping plates having lowerlongitudinal edge portions, said pair of clamping plates being mountedbetween the end members and are biassed towards each other to a closedposition in which said plates define a substantially V-shaped troughhaving a root defined by lower longitudinal edge portions of saidplates, whereby bank notes inserted into said trough are received andretained between the lower longitudinal edge portions of the plates atthe root of said trough.
 2. A canister according to claim 1 wherein saidpair of clamping plates of said note holder are movable to a releaseposition to allow bank notes to fall therefrom through said sideopening.
 3. A canister according to claim 1, in which the lowerlongitudinal edge portions of the clamping plates are slightly spacedfrom each other in the closed position, and each clamping plate isprovided with a plurality of flexible fingers which extend from itslower longitudinal edge portion and interdigitate with the fingers ofthe other clamping plate, the fingers being deflectable to allow banknotes to be inserted between them.
 4. A canister according to claim 1,in which at least one of the pair of clamping plates is pivotallymounted on the end members so that said at least one plate can pivotabout an axis substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of thecanister, and is biassed by spring means to pivot in a direction to movethe lower longitudinal edge portion of the plate towards thecorresponding edge of the other of said pair of clamping plates.
 5. Acanister according to claim 4, in which only one of said pair ofclamping plates is pivotally mounted, the other of said pair being fixedin position relative to the end members.
 6. A canister according toclaim 4 in which the at least one pivotally mounted clamping plate isguided during pivotal movement of the plate by means of pins which arecarried by the plate and project into guide slots provided in the endmembers.
 7. A canister according to claim 1, in which each of the endmembers is freely rotatably mounted in an end cap having a peripheralportion arranged to engage the air tube wall during travel of thecanister through the tube, and at least one of the end members ifeccentrically weighted so that the interconnected end members willtogether rotate relative to the end caps to a predetermined positionwhen the canister is at rest.
 8. A canister according to claim 7, inwhich the peripheral portion of each end cap is fitted with acircumferential seal made of a suitable low friction material tofacilitate the movement of the canister through the air tube.
 9. Apneumatic cash handling system comprising an air tube, a canisteraccording to claim 1, freely slidably along the length of the tubebetween a cashier station tube terminal and a teller assist unit (TAU)tube terminal located in a secure area remote from the cashier station,and means for controlling the air pressure in the tube to drive thecanister back and forth between the two tube terminals, at least the TAUtube terminal comprising a portion of the air tube having a firstlongitudinally extending opening in its wall for providing access to thebank note holder of the canister when the canister is received in the atleast the TAU tube terminal, means for stopping the canister in the atleast the TAU tube terminal in a predetermined position relative to theopening, a rotatable sleeve closely surrounding the tube portion of theat least the TAU tube terminal and having a first longitudinallyextending opening substantially corresponding to the first tube opening,and means for rotating the sleeve to move it between an open position inwhich its first opening registers with the first tube openign and aclosed position in which the first tube opening is shut by the sleeve.10. A system according to claim 9, in which the air pressure controlmeans for driving the canister along the air tube comprises a blowerwhich is connected to the air tube and is slectively operable to blow orsuck air through the tube, the blower being connected to the air tubeadjacent an end of the TAU tube terminal nearest to the cashier terminalvia a non-return valve which permits air to be sucked from the tube butnot blown into the tube, and being further connected to the air tubeadjacent an end of the TAU tube terminal furthest from the cashierterminal via a non-return valve which permits air to be blown into thetube but not sucked therefrom.
 11. A system according to claim 9, inwhich the means for stopping the canister at the at least the TAU tubeterminal is linked to the means for rotating the sleeve so that thesleeve is opened automatically after the canister reaches itspredetermined position in the at least the TAU terminal.
 12. A systemaccording to claim 9, in which the tube portion of the TAU tube terminalhas a second longitudinally extending opening disposed at a bottom ofthe tube portion, the second tube opening being diametrically oppositethe first opening thereof, and the sleeve also has a secondlongitudinally extending opening diametrically opposite the first sleeveopening and substantially corresponding to the second opening of thetube portion so that each sleeve opening registers with thecorresponding opening of the tube portion when the sleeve is moved tothe open position and both opening of the tube portion are shut when thesleeve is moved to the closed position, the TAU tube terminal alsocomprising means for causing the bank note holder of the canister torelease bank notes for discharge through the registering second openingsof the tube portion and the sleeve when the sleeve is in the openposition and the notes are to be deposited in the secure area.
 13. Asystem according to claim 12, in which the first openings of the tubeportion and the sleeve of the TAU tube terminal each has an end, eachend being offset in opposite circumferential directions to provide awider portion on one side at one end, and a corresponding wider portionon the other side at the other end.
 14. A system according to claim 13,in which the means for causing the bank note holder to release banknotes comprises a pair of holder opening members which are mounted inthe TAU tube terminal on opposite sides of the sleeved tube portion andare movable into the tube portion through the wider portions of theregistering first openings of the sleeve and tube portion when thesleeve is in the open position.